Within the next several days, we will publish in the Federal Register the final regulations developed after the Department’s review of public comments received in response to the July 29, 2013 NPRM. We are providing in PDF format a copy of the final regulations. Please note that the official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register.PDF (1.19MB)

On July 29, 2013, the Department published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Through this NPRM, the Secretary proposes to reflect changes made to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), by the SAFRA Act included in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; incorporate other recent statutory changes in the Direct Loan Program regulations; update, strengthen, and clarify various areas of the Student Assistance General Provisions, Perkins Loan, FFEL, and Direct Loan program regulations; and provide for greater consistency in the regulations governing the Title IV student loan programs. These proposed regulations would ensure that the Title IV Federal student aid programs operate as efficiently as possible.

Within the next several days, the Department will publish a second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register resulting from these negotiated rulemaking sessions. We are providing in PDF format a copy of the NPRM: PDF (1.37MB)

The following documents show all proposed changes to 34 CFR Part 682 and 34 CFR Part 685 that are included in the July 2013 notice.

On November 1, 2012 the Department published final regulations. The final regulations implement a new Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan in the Direct Loan program based on the President’s “Pay As You Earn” repayment initiative, incorporate recent statutory changes to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan in the Direct Loan and FFEL programs, and streamline and add clarity to the total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge process for borrowers in Title IV loan programs. The final regulations implementing a new ICR plan and the statutory changes to the IBR plan will assist borrowers in repaying their loans, while the changes to the TPD discharge process will reduce burden for borrowers who are disabled and seeking a discharge of their Title IV debt.

The following is a list of the supporting information cited in the preambles of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the final regulations. (All documents are reprinted with permission.)

Reprinted from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Economic Letter 2011-09. March 21, 2011. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the management of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

On July 17, 2012, the Department published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Through this NPRM, the Secretary proposed to implement a new Income Contingent Repayment plan in the Direct Loan program based on the President's "Pay As You Earn" repayment initiative, incorporate recent statutory changes to the Income Based Repayment plan in the Direct Loan and FFEL programs, and streamline and add clarity to the total and permanent disability discharge process for borrowers in the Title IV, HEA loan programs.

To access the public comments submitted in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking pertaining to repayment options for student loans, go to www.regulations.gov, and search docket number ED–2012–OPE–0010.

On October 28, 2011, the Department published a notice in the Federal Register announcing our intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations governing the student loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The committee will include representatives of organizations or groups with interests that are significantly affected
by the topics proposed for negotiation. Through this notice, we request nominations for individual negotiators who represent key stakeholder constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on the committee and we set a schedule for committee meetings. | PDF

Loans II Small Entity Compliance Guide: This guide explains the actions a small entity is required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. The guide is written using sufficiently plain language likely to be understood by affected small entities. MS Word (60K)